Life Between Death and Rebirth

Schmidt Number: S-2687

On-line since: 27th October, 2004

VIII

Between Death and a New Birth

Vienna, January 21, 1913

The last
time I spoke to you here, I dealt briefly with a significant phase of
human life between death and rebirth. This phase cannot be treated as
if it were of no importance to our physical existence. We should be
clear about the fact that the forces we need for life do not only
come from the realm of the physical body. They emanate essentially
from a super-sensible world to which we belong between death and
rebirth. This can be understood only if we are able to form mental
images of life between death and rebirth.

Man is mostly enveloped in a kind of dreaming-sleeping condition.
Those who go through the daily routine without thinking about the
events they experience are in fact asleep to life, and those who
concern themselves with what lies beyond material existence are also
those who awaken to physical life. Referring to our earlier
considerations, you will remember that spiritual science rightly
understood is capable of entering fully into all aspects of human
existence. Inasmuch as spiritual science permeates our civilization,
humanity will experience an awakening from a sleep of life. Many
things that approach the human being appear strange and mysterious,
but they represent a riddle more to the feelings than to the dry
intellect. A mother standing by the coffin of her child, or the
reverse, is such an instance. One has but to concern oneself
thoroughly with human existence to realize how people become aware of
the riddle of life. People who have lost a sister, a husband, or a
wife come to me and say, “I never used to think about death,
never concerned myself about what might happen afterwards, but since
this relative has been taken from me it is as if he were still here,
and this has led me to occupy myself with spiritual science.”
Life will bring people to spiritual science. What happens as a result
will be richly rewarding because spiritual science can permeate life
with certain impulses that it alone can give.

When a person is no longer physically present, the riddle arises as
to what happens to him after death. External science cannot supply
the answer because it only observes with the eyes, and they, too,
decay. The physical brain decays also, and it is clear that it can be
of no use for what man experiences without his physical sheath. Yet
the mighty questions regarding the beyond remain. In this connection
general answers are of little avail and it is preferable to consider
actual instances that can penetrate directly into life.

Let us take life on earth as a starting point. Perhaps you will have
come across a person who, through a deep inner longing, through his
own soul disposition, was driven to spiritual science, whereas
another may have become antagonistic towards it.
The one became more deeply involved in
spiritual science, while his friend developed increasing enmity
towards it. Life not only presents us with a maya in nature but also
in the immediacy of our connection with others. In fact, what has
just been related may be a complete deception. He who has convinced
himself that all this is nonsense may, in the depths of his soul of
which he remains unconscious, develop a secret love for it. In the
substrata love can express itself as hate. One does find such cases
in earthy life. When a person has gone through the gate of death, all
the secret soul impulses and longings that he has suppressed during
his earthly existence rise to the surface and become the content of
the period of catharsis. We have observed people going through the
gate of death who on earth were enemies of spiritual science and who
after death developed an intense longing for it. Such antagonists
then strive for spiritual science. Had we during their earthly lives
gone to them with a book on spiritual science, they might have
dismissed us in anger. After death we can do them no greater service
than to read to them. Reading in thought to the dead can have the
greatest furthering effect for them.

There are many instances within our spiritual movement in which those
connected with a dead person have read to him and thereby helped him.
The dead receive what is given with the utmost gratitude, and in this
way a beautiful relationship can be developed. This shows what
spiritual science can mean quite practically. Spiritual science is
not mere theory. It must take hold of life and tear down the wall
that separates the living from the dead. Thus can the gulf be
bridged. A great deal of good can be done by bringing spiritual
science into life with the right attitude. No better advice can be
given than to read to the dead because it is a strange fact that
immediately after death we are incapable of making new connections.
We are forced to continue with the old ones.

The question presents itself as to whether or not the dead are able
to find spiritual beings beyond the threshold who could teach them.
That is not possible! To begin with, one can only have connections
with beings with whom one has had a relationship before going through
the gate of death. On encountering a being one has not known on
earth, one merely passes him by. On earth, too, one would not
recognize a great genius if he were dressed like a teamster. One has
contact only with the individuals one has known on earth. One might
meet many beings who could be of help, but if there has been no prior
connection, they can be of no use to one. Spiritual science is in its
early stages and because it has only just begun to have an effect on
human beings, the living can perform the greatest service to the dead
by helping them in this way. This is an instance of the influence
that can be exercised from our world upon the other. But the opposite
is also possible — the dead can work into the physical world.
To the extent that spiritual science takes hold of life, a
cooperation between both worlds will come about. The dead can also
influence the living.

People know remarkably little about the world. At most, only what
happens in the course of time is grasped. Many think that the rest is
of no significance. But what actually occurs is only the smallest
part of what is worth knowing. By knowing only what happens
externally, one actually remains ignorant of life. In the morning we
go to work. Probably we consider the things that happen there as well
worth knowing. One day we leave three minutes later than usual and
surprising events take place. If, for example, we had left home at
the right time we might have been run over, but we have been
protected. Or perhaps we have to make a trip and miss the train. Then
this very train is involved in a serious accident. What can we gather
from such considerations?

There is much that does not happen in life, and yet we should reckon
such events among the possibilities. Does the individual know how
many such possibilities he escapes every single day? Imagine all the
things that could happen from which he is protected! We overlook them
because for a cold, abstract view of life they are quite meaningless.
But let us consider the effect on the soul of a person who has been
saved from danger by an apparent coincidence. A man from Berlin
intended to go to America and had already purchased his ticket. A
friend advised him not to sail on the Titanic! Picture to
yourself the feelings of this man. He did not sail, and then he heard
of the sinking of the Titanic. It had a shattering effect on
his feelings. What impressions would arise in us if we were able to
observe in the course of the day all the things we have been spared!
When a person begins to concern himself with spiritual science he
develops a far greater sensitivity for the complexities of life, for
what happens in the normal course of the day.

Now if we have acquired a sensitivity of soul and are spiritually
prepared, at moments such as these we can receive an impression from
the spiritual world, a message from the dead that comes as an act of
grace. The gates are flung open by the dead. They can speak to those
who have developed sensitivity. Important matters can be imparted.
The dead person, for example, may order us to accomplish something
that he has not done. So the gulf is bridged. When spiritual science
penetrates into practical life, and it will do so in the future, we
shall be able to communicate in both directions with the dead. It
will bring the super-sensible world into the immediate present.

The following question may arise. When we read a spiritual-scientific
book in a particular language, can the dead understand this language?
During the period of catharsis the dead understand the language they
have spoken on earth. It is only later, during the passage into
devachan, that they can no longer understand words but only thoughts.
A transformation in the intercourse with the dead takes place after a
definite period of years. If the one who has remained on earth is
sensitive, he will feel that the one who has died is with him and
that they think the same. This can last for years and then suddenly
one loses the connection. That is the moment when the dead passes
into devachan. During the period of catharsis he still remembers
earthly life, he still holds onto these memories.

What is an earthly language? Every language has meaning only for
earthly life and is closely connected with a person's
organization, with the climate and with the formation of the larynx.
In Europe we do not speak the same languages as in India. But
thoughts are not formed according to earthly conditions. The dead
only understand language as long as they are in kamaloca. When a
medium conveys a message from the dead in a particular language, it
can only come from one who has recently gone through the gate of
death.

Fundamentally we are already within the higher worlds every time we
go to sleep, for in sleep we enter unconsciously the same realm we
enter after death.

I would like to pose the following question. Can someone who is not
yet able to see with super-sensible perception nevertheless know about
these things? A sleeping man, of course, does live. He is somewhat
like a plant. You may recall that a scientist, Raoul Francé,
writes that plants are endowed with feelings and are able to admire.
Yet plants do not have a soul element. The sleeping human organism is
on par with the plant. The rays of the sun have to fall on the plant
if it is to live. The earth is covered with plants because the sun
has called them forth. Without the sun there are no plants and during
the winter they cannot sprout forth.

When man sleeps, where is his sun? What lies in the bed we also
cannot envisage without the sun. This sun is outside the man's
ego. There the ego has to work on the sleeping organism as the sun
does on the plant. But it is not only the sun that plays a part in
bringing forth and sustaining vegetation. The moon does also. Without
the influences from the moon there would be no plant growth either,
but the effect of lunar influences is completely ignored by
scientists.

The light of the moon influences the plant. The lunar forces
determine the width of the plant. A plant that grows tall and thin is
little influenced by the moon. Even the whole cosmos is involved in
the growth of plants. The ego works into the physical and etheric
bodies as the sun influences plant growth. Similarly, the astral body
is related to the moon. The ego is the sun for the physical body, the
astral body is spiritually its moon. Our ego creates a replacement
for the influences of the sun, and our astral body for those of the
moon. This justifies what the initiate means when he says man has
been formed as an extract of the forces of the cosmos. As the sun is
the central point of the plant world and rays forth its light in all
directions, in the same way light must permeate the physical and
etheric bodies. The sunlight is not only physical, it is also of a
soul-spiritual nature separated from the cosmos and become the “I”
or ego. The human astral body contains an extract of the light of the
moon. The greatest wisdom is contained in these matters.

If the human ego were still bound to the sun, man would only be able
to alternate between sleeping and waking like the plants. If there
were only the solar influence we would never be able to sleep during
the day. We would sleep only at night. But our whole cultural life
depends upon an emancipation from these conditions. We carry our own
sun within us and the ego is an extract of the solar influence. The
astral body in man is an extract of the lunar influence. So during
sleep we are not dependent in the spiritual world on the cosmic solar
influence. Our ego does what the sun would do otherwise. We are
illumined by our own ego and astral body.

Ancient occult vision penetrated to this point only occasionally.
Spiritual science gives us the following picture of the sleeping man.
Above him shines the sun, his ego, without which he could not be as a
plant during sleep. Above him shines the moon, his own astral body.

Now, we can also picture that during the autumn when the sun's
influence decreases, vegetation withers. In a man who is awake the
astral body and ego are within the physical and ether bodies. The
return into the body is to a certain extent like the setting of the
sun and moon, and it also marks the end of the plant-like existence.
The vegetative condition that prevails to revivify our forces during
sleep is much less active during waking life. The vegetative
growth-forces wane as man awakens. Inasmuch we are plant-like, we die
every morning. This throws considerable light on the interplay
between soul and body. Some people feel active and stimulated shortly
after waking. Those are the ones who are able to live more strongly
in the soul sphere. People who tend to live more in the bodily nature
often sense a certain fatigue in the morning. The less tired a person
is in the morning, the more active he can be. Yet our waking life may
be compared to the dying process of the plants in winter. Each day we
draw death forces within our organism. They accumulate and because of
this process we eventually die. The fundamental reason for death lies
in the sphere of consciousness. From this we can gather that the
conscious activity of the ego within our daily life is the destroyer
of our physical and etheric bodies. We die because we live
consciously.

Many attempts are being made to explain the nature of sleep. Sleep is
supposed to be a condition of exhaustion and is said to exist to
dispel tiredness. But sleep is not really a condition of exhaustion.
The small child, for instance, sleeps more than anyone. Sleep is a
part of the whole of life. It is inserted in the rhythm of falling
asleep and waking up. Similarly, as we see nature wither in winter,
so something dies in us during our waking life.

When we go through the gate of death, we leave our physical and etheric
bodies behind and our ego and astral body now emerge as sun and moon that
have nothing to illumine. Nevertheless, the ego and the astral body can
continue their existence in spite of the fact that they have nothing to
illumine. When they permeate the body, consciousness arises. In the spiritual
world also, man has to permeate something if he is to acquire consciousness,
otherwise he would exist without consciousness.

Into
what does man enter after death? He plunges into the spiritual substance
that is present without earthly participation. Since the Mystery of Golgatha
man must always penetrate into the Christ-substance of the earth that
has come about through the deed on Golgatha. We have learned to know the
Christ as the Sun Spirit. The ego has emancipated itself from the light
of the sun. Then the mighty Sun Spirit descended to the earth, and thereby
does the ego of man penetrate into the substance of the Sun Spirit. Man
experiences this plunging into the Christ-substance when hea has gone
through the gate of death. Because of this he is able to develop consciousness
after death. In nature this stage will be accomplished when the earth
has reached the Vulcan condition. As the sun shines for above downward
on the earth, it conjures forth the carpet of vegetation. Now assume the
sun were to shine on the earth with strength to bring forth the plants,
but the earth but the earth was unable to bring them forth and instead
reflected the sunlight back. Then the sunlight would not be lost but would
shine out into cosmic space and bring forth a supersensible vegetation.
This does in fact occur, not physically but spiritually. Because the Christ
united himself with the earth, every individual who has united himself
with the Christ is able to experience after death the repercussions of
what he has grasped consciously on earth. Thus we can understand that
on earth man must acquire the capacity to develop consciousness
after death. He must carry over from his physical body the forces that
develop consciousness.

The bodily nature was most strongly illumined during the Greco-Latin
period. Then the saying, “Rather a beggar on earth than a king
in the realm of the Shades,” had reality. At that time to dwell
in the underworld meant to lead a miserable existence. Before the
birth of Christ life after death was little developed. We, on the
other hand, belong to an age that is characterized by the fact that
such forces are no longer exercised on the bodily nature. Man,
inasmuch as he sleeps, is on the decline. The bodily nature has been
on the downgrade since the time of Christ. The vegetative forces were
most strongly prevalent during the Greek epoch. At the end of the
evolution of humanity the bodily nature will be most barren. In
earlier epochs men were clairvoyant and the soul was highly
developed. Through the soul-spiritual decline the bodily nature rose
to its peak as expressed in the beauty of Greek art. But as we go
into the future all striving for beauty is faced with a pitfall in
that external beauty has no future. Beauty must become an inner
quality and in this way must it reveal its character.

Insofar as this withering process increases, the inner nature of the
sun and of the moon will become ever more glorious. Those who
cultivate spirit and soul through spiritual science have a greater
understanding of the future than those people who seek to revive the
Greek games. The more a person leaves his soul-spiritual nature in
unconsciousness, the more miserable is the destiny he will encounter
between death and a new birth. The decay of the body has nothing to
do with life after death, but if nothing of a soul-spiritual nature
has been developed, then there is nothing to carry over into the
spiritual world. The more a person has opened himself to receive a
spiritual content, the better he will fare after death. Mankind will
learn increasingly to become independent of what is bound to the
physical body.

Spiritual science will not keep its present form. Words can scarcely
express what it wishes to convey. In spiritual science more will
depend on how things are said, rather than on what is
said. That is an international element and can live in any language.
One will accustom oneself to listen to how things are expressed. In
this way one can enter into contact with the dweller of devachan.
Today we are gathered together and speak of spiritual science. We
will go through the gate of death and continue to develop in a number
of future incarnations. Then we will have thoughts independent from
the earth-bound language of today. The spirit will enter into our
life and we will be able to communicate with the dead.

External cultural life goes to its downfall. A time will come when
the skies will be filled with airplanes. Life on earth will wither,
but the human soul will grow into the spiritual world. At the end of
earth evolution man will have progressed so that there will no longer
be a sharp division between the living and the dead. The earth will
do over into a spiritual condition again because man will have
spiritualized himself. This will give you a basis for a correct
answer when people ask, “Death and birth repeat themselves but
will this always continue?” There will not be such a difference
between living and dying because for human consciousness everything
will be spiritualized. The upward development of the whole of mankind
leads to the condition that will be experienced on Jupiter.

In speaking about life between death and rebirth we open up a
far-reaching realm. There, also, everything is subject to change and
transformation, including the intercourse of the living with the
dead. We shall gradually penetrate further into the nature of man's
existence, into the interplay between his bodily and spiritual
nature.